Commodity-receptacle.



D. H. MOSTELLER.

COMMODITY REGEPTACLE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 1911.

Patented July 4, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DOSIER H. MOSTELLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 MOSTELLER MANUFAC- TURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGQ'ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

coMmonIrY-nEcErTAcLn Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 24, 1911. Serial No. 604,350.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, DOSIER H. MOSTELLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in- Commodity-Receptacle's, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to receptacles adapted to protect articles in a sanitary manner,

and is particularly adapted for use in connection with pastry cones to permit removal thereof one at a time."

The objects of my invention are to provide ter, thus maintaining them in a pure and samtary condition; to provide a receptacle which may be easily filled and from'which the articles may be easily withdrawn by the use of one hand only; to provide a receptacle ill-which the articles descend by gravity to a delivery compartment where one or more is always ready to be withdrawn; to provide means within said receptacle which permits the discharge of articles therefrom one at a time; to provide means in connection with the dischargingmechanism that shall insure to the articles delivered a firm and even hold bysaid mechanism to prevent any damage or injury that might otherwise result; and to provide a receptacle that shall be easy and inexpensive to manufacture and so simple as not to be liable to get out of order.

Further objects of my invention will appear from the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

'In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the'delivery compartment and the lower end of'the magazine por-' and when closed serves as a dust-proof cover.

Patented July 4, 1911.

Preferably the magazine is constructed of transparent material enabling the user thereby to ascertain at a glance when the supply of articles therein is nearly exhausted.

The magazine is mounted above a delivery compartment 4 which is provided with a door 5 formed with a finger piece 6, and said door is held normally in closed position by a tension member 7 The articles contained in the magazine are prevented from dropping into the compartment 4 by means of companion swinging plates 8 mounted within the delivery compartment just below the base of the magazine, and constitute in effect the means for controlling the discharge of the articles. Said plates are pivotally mounted within bearings 9 by means of a pin 10, and are normally held in substantially horizontal position by means of tension members 11. The plates 8 have secured to their upper surfaces up-turned fingers 12 adapted to contact the walls of the delivery compartment 4 when said plates are in substantially horizontal position, thereby serving as stop members to limit further upward swinging movement of said plates. The plates 8 each are provided with a downwardly turned ear 13 and between said ears a tension member 14 is mounted. It is apparent that the direction of rotation of these plates can only be downward and that said movement must be against the pressure exerted by the tension members 11 and the tension member 14. It is to be noted that the inner edges of said plates as well as the upper surfaces thereof are concave in formation, and said edges are rounded off to render them as smooth and blunt as possible. Such a formation permits articles 16 supported therebetween to be evenly contacted by said edges around the greater portion of its surface. In the case of pastry cones which are fragile and brittle. it is highly desirablethat only a smooth and even con tactby the plates be permitted, and by forming the plates in the manner described, this result. has been accomplished.

The operation of the swinging plates is as follows: When the lowermost article is seized and downwardly pulled by the hand,

said plates yield to such movement and are downwardly swung against the action of the tension members. The edges of the plate which normally contact the lowermost articlc evenly, in the downwardly swung posi- "tion loosen their hold on said articles except along the outer portions of said edges, this slender contact enabling the-articles to be more easily withdrawn from between said plates. It is, of course, obvious that when said plates swing downwardly they are swung outwardly as well, and when sufiiciently depressed afford an opening of a size the plate, the tension members will cause said plates to swing upwardly to their nor- 1 mal positions, which positions are determined by the action of the stop members against the walls of the delivery compartment. This return movement will be accomplished before the article adjacent the one which was withdrawn from between the plates can descend an appreciable distance, .and will, therefore,cause the said article to assume exactly the same position with respect to the swinging plates as was" occupiedby the article just withdrawn. As said plates are downwardly swung to permit the passage of an article therethrough, the tension member 14 secured to the ears 13 will exert a constantly increasing force. In case there is a tendency for one of the plates to swing downwardly before the other, and so engage the article 16 in an uneven manner, the tension member 14 will exert an undue force upon the plate swinging tardily, thereby causing said plate to be hastened in its movement and keep pace with the other of said plates. This equalization in the movement of the plates is highly desirable since otherwise the articles held therebetween would be sharply contacted by the edge of the plate in the upper position and scarcely at all by the edge of the plate in the lower position. The, tendency for the plates to swing unevenly could only exist when one of the tension members 11 was weaker than the other or when the article being withdrawn is improperly seized and pulled toward one side. The action is therefore automatic, one article'being released at atime and the next succeeding article being placed into position for withdrawa'l. w

It must be apparent that the construction s own will permit of the withdrawal of articles from the receptacle with the use of one hand only, thus leaving the other hand free 0 engage other articles at the same time. The plates may be constructed of any desired metallic substance. Their action is not dependent upon any resilient or flexible quality, that they may possess,

which would be affected'by heator thermal conditions, but solely by the tension members employed to operatethem. This obviously tends to make their action more reliable and give them longer life.

I claim:

1. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members having opposed faces adapted to embrace a cylindrical body for controlling the passage of articles therethrough, said members beingadapted to swing downward to permit of the discharge of an article, and means for automatically swinging said members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, substantially as described.

2. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members having opposed faces adapted to embrace a cylindrical body for controlling the passage of articles therethrough, said members being adapted to swing downward to ermit of the discharge of an article, means or automatically swinging said members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, a closed compartment into which a portion of the lowermost article normally projects, and means for permitting access to said compartment, substantially as described.

3. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members having opposed faces adapted to embrace a cylindrical body for controlling the passage of articles therethrough, said members being adapted. to swing downward to permit of the discharge of an article, means for antomatically swinging said members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the' adjacent article, a closed compartment into which a portion of the lowermost article normally projects, the walls of said compartment being cut away to provide an opening, and a tension controlled door normally maintained in position to close said opening, substantially as described.

4:. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members having opposed faces adapted to embrace a cylindrical body for controlling the passage of articles therethrough, said members being adapted to swing downward to permit of the discharge of an article, and tension members provided to swing said non-flexible members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, substantially as described.

5. In a commodity receptacle, the combi nation of a magazine, non-flexible members having opposed faces adapted to embrace a cylindrical body at the lower ,end of the magazine for controlling the passage of articles therethrough, said members being adapted to swing downward to permit of the discharge of an article, tension members provided to swing said non-flexible members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, a closed compartment into which a portion of the lowermost article normally projects, and means for permitting access to said compartment, substantially as described.

6. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members at the lower end of the magazine for controlling the passage of articles therethrough, said members being adapted to swing downward to permit ofthe discharge of an article, means for automatically swinging said members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, andmeans for equalizing the movement of said nonflexible members with respect to each other, substantially as described."

7. In a commodity receptacle, the-combination of a magazine, non-flexible members at the lower end of the magazine for controlling the passage of articles therethrough,

said members being adapted to swing downward to permitof the discharge of an arti cle, means for automatically swinging said members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge "of the adj acent article, means for equalizing the movement of said non-flexible members with respect to each other, 'a closed compartment into which a portion of the lowermost article normally projects, and means for permitting access to said compartment, substantially as described.

8. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members at the lower end of the magazine for controlling the passage of articles therethrough, said members being adapted to swing downward to permit of the discharge of an article, tension members provided to swing said non-flexible members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, and means for equalizing the movement of sald non-flexible members with respect to each other, substantially as described.

9. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members at the lower end of the magazine for controlling the passage of articles therethrough, said members being adapted to swing downward to permit of the discharge of an article, downwardly projecting ears on said members, a tension member connected with said ea-rsadapted to equalize the movement of said non-flexible members with-respect to each other, and tension members provided to swing said non-flexible members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, substantially as described.

10. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members at the lower end of the magazine for controlling the passage of articles therethrough, said members being adapted to swing downward to permit of the discharge of an article, means for automatically swinging said mem bers upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, means for equalizing the movement of said non-flexible members with respect to each other, said members having their inner edges shaped to conform to and engage with the article held therebetween when in normal position, substantially as described.

11. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members at the lower end of the magazine for controlling the passage of articles therethrough,

ward to permit of the dischargeof an article, means for automatically swinging said members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, means for equalizing the movement of said non-flexible members with respect to each other, and means for limiting the upward swing of said members to maintain them in normal position, substan tially as described.

12. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, non-flexible members at the lower end of the magazine for controlling thepassage of articles therethrough, said members being adapted to swing downward to permit of the discharge of an article, downwardly projecting ears ,formed on said members, a. tension member connected with said'ears adapted to equalize the movement of said non-flexible members with respect to each other, tension members provided to swing said non-flexible members upward after such discharge to engage and prevent the discharge of the adjacent article, means for limiting the upward swing of said members to maintain them in normal position, a closed compartment into which a portion of the lowermost article normally projects and means for permitting access intosaid compartment, substantially as described.

13. In a commodity receptacle, the combination of a magazine, means for controlling the discharge of articles from the magazine, comprising opposed members at leastone of which has a fixed center of movement and provided with a surface adapted to impinge the article, said surface lying in a plane elevated with respect to the center of movement whereby the weight of the articles tends to force said members into tight engagement with the surface thereof, sub

stantially as described.

14. In a commodlty receptacle, the comblnatlon of a magazine, means for controlling the discharge of articles from the magazine, comprising opposed members at means for automatically returning the parts least one of Which has a fixed center of moveinto normal position, substantially as de- 10 I ment and provided with a surface adapted to scribed.

impinge the article, said surface lying in a plane elevatedWit-h respect to the center of DOSIER MOSTELLER' movement whereby the Weight of the arti- Witnesses: cles tends to force said members into tight \VALKER BANNING, engagement with the surface thereof, and FRANCES M. FROST. 

